Beyond Non-Violence, And The Pinnacle Of Spirituality

It is often the case that when we approach spirituality, that some of our fundamental assumptions may remain. These assumptions will do nothing to better direct our lives towards the higher states of being of consciousness, known mostly by the description of peace, compassion, joy, and love.

In some of my articles, I wrote about how sometimes a positive force is necessary to balance anything overwhelmingly disrespectful to our soul. The idea of engaging in positive force is seemingly the most complicated of spiritual problems that any of us could face. Stretching our creativity to the limits, as we learn how to be more compassionate to even psychopaths or tyrants. Though, some do not even consider this; opting for what they believe to be a necessary violent action.

However, it is all too easy to assume that violence is a necessary firmament of our reality, even when exploring our spirituality. Just as we may believe it necessary to eat meats on a daily basis for good health. It is something that is not really an inherent function of our universe, anymore than it is inherent to fuel a car with gasoline.

While watching a recent Spirit Science video, I was reminded how easy it is for us to default to the belief that violence is necessary, even within the spiritual community. Many look to ancient books such as Tao Te Ching or the famous Bhagavad Gita to justify a view of “benevolent violence”. Meaning, that if someone is attacking, it is our duty to defend with a commensurate level of violence towards our oppressor. As well, our entertainment seems to enjoy glamorizing war and violence against another, as a point of pride or status. When in fact, all this seems to be doing is directing our minds towards glorifying something that isn’t at all required for life to be vibrant.

The idea that violence can “sometimes be good” is a rather lackadaisical point of view to always hold as true (even if it still contains a degree of truth). And if anyone believes violence is necessary, how far will they take that violence? This is where the tyrant and the freedom fighter, become one and the same, within similar struggles. Unaware that this violence only breeds more conflict, and a less than desirable outcome.

Though, if we look to someone like Mahatma Gandhi, we can prove that non-violence is a salient option within any conflict. Being creative, we can find ways to disrupt the normal mechanisms of society in order to bring about change through peaceful means (Such as fasts, boycotts, or other means of ceasing some of our daily conveniences to garner more awareness and action). However, this is still among the lower rungs of the spiritual ladder, if we are to deal with the magnitude of violence in our world.

The most powerful insight goes beyond whether to act violently or non-violently, but to see what causes these situations to begin with. In our society, violence and imbalance is pervasive, but can always be circumvented into balance and peace, if we assume it is possible.

For instance, many commentators have noted that this recent war surrounding Ukraine could have been avoided, only if we alleviated our fear of Russian power by not expanding NATO bases in eastern Ukraine. This is, but one way, we could have stopped any act of violence before it began. However, now that it has begun, the only way towards peace is to make concessions. It is unfortunate that many still believe that continuing this war is the only way towards more balance. It is not. It will only lead to more deaths and more opportunity for the fire of violence to spread. Yet, this is the popular view of many who are dealing with this situation now. Providing more weapons and firepower of which will surely doom those involved to a longer more bloody conflict.

And what about those who may deal with violence on a more personal basis? Many would believe that violence is necessary to rebuke these individuals so that they no longer deal anymore harm. How far are we willing to go with this idealogy? To the point of killing them? Some would say yes. I would say no.

There is a good story of a student of Aikido (which is a unique martial art with a philosophy of harmony). In this story, the student is sitting on a train when he overhears a drunk causing all kinds of turmoil towards the passengers. The student is eager to step in with a commensurate amount of violence, however an old man begins talking to the drunk instead. The old man begins connecting to the true self of the rambunctious drunk to the point where the drunk no longer seems like such a bad person anymore. They begin to laugh with each other, talking about their favorite drinks of alcohol— when the drunk begins to open up about how his wife has recently died. This was the real cause of the drunks anger, and the old man was able to realize this before any conflict occurred. The student saw the whole scene unfold and awakened to what a true master of Aikido could do. Vibrate on a level of consciousness, where violence is not an option.

In this way, we can learn how we must face the violence of others. Creating environments and opportunities of abundance to allow them to transmute their negativity into positivity. To only use positive force when only absolutely necessary (if perhaps, it is at all), and if we accidentally slip into violence— to immediately see in what way we can move back towards non-violence, and thus towards ways to prevent violence from ever occurring.

In this idea, is a much higher spiritual wisdom, and if that wisdom is not present, we can do our best to find a way to make it present. Looking for options to prevent violence before it occurs, because our violent ways are only created by our actions in every moment. In every moment, we can find the lighter path.